Model Home.....err Abarnment

This kitchen looks ready to roll......

......and so does the bathroom.....

....with it's super cute door that I'm pretty much obsessed with.....

Alas, there is no running water, much less HOT water to be found. Even more upsetting, is the plumber (aka, my Father) isn't interested in having a plumbers assistant, so I must sit and wait for my dream abarnment to be finished. 

And while I'm sitting and waiting (because you all know how well I do both of those....not!) I'm researching a new oven. Because we caught mine on fire today. Terrifying. We've gotten all the major appliances, except for the refrigerator, as hand-me-downs from my dad's friends, who are in the kitchen remodeling business. We had figured out how to fit in the oven into my house since it was a wall mounted dealio that I don't have a spare wall to install it into, so we were having to modify one of the bottom cabinets to make it fit. Today's agenda was to test wire it to make sure it was in working order, and hardcore clean it, since the previous owners apparently didn't believe in cleaning. 

Dad wired it up, flipped the breaker on, the digital display lit up, but before we could start our victory dances the control panel LIT.ON.FIRE! It was horrible. My biggest fear is of my house burning down, so this is a BIG DEAL in my book. Luckily we were testing this sitting out in the open, in our barn stall downstairs from my abarnment, but if that had been installed it would have caught the whole cabinet on fire, which would have caught the whole kitchen on fire and lord knows where it would have gone from there. 

Needless to say, that oven is toast. Literally.

Love to all,

~the "well, at least I don't have to clean that nasty oven now" gal, Jess

Friday, May 6, 2005

As I hinted the other day that I wanted to add a few more "columns," or types of posts, to my blog, so today I want to debut "Flashback Fridays." I've mentioned on several occasions that I've been blogging on and off since 2005! I've always kept a journal/diary and then went "live" in college to share my thoughts with a small group of friends.

I really enjoy looking back at how my life has changed (or not) and how my writing has improved (hopefully, a little? ha), and thought that perhaps you all would enjoy seeing some of my old posts too. Enter "Flashback Fridays."  I'll be pulling a little gem from my old blog every Friday or so, for your entertainment. The title of my current post will be the date of my original post. I don't have enough just "Fridays" to share, since I didn't really have a blogging schedule back then (hell, like I do now? ha.) but you get the idea, right?

A few quick disclaimers: I orginally wrote a "semi private" blog, which means only my real life friends could read it, so in reposting I will take the liberty of changing or removing names if nessary as well as removing anything that is overally personal. I'm sure you understand.

Enough will the baloney, let's Flashback!

So its 8:55 pm, I'm home and I have this unsettled feeling.....it could be because I have an entire dorm room (oh,ok,ok most of a dorm room) sitting in boxes and bags on my bedroom floor but I really don't think that is it.  It's more that I was so gung ho to get home and now I'm like ok, I'm home....so this is it?  And I knew this would happen, just not 4.5 hours after I got home.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be home and I'm not ready to go back to South FLA and the HC just yet but.....I don't know, I guess I was expecting a more exciting home coming.  I know that me and Mom will have plently to talk about later but right now things proceed as if I never left or actually as if I never came home.  Mom and Dad have gotten used to me not being here, again, not a bad thing.....its just change and when it comes right down to it folks, I don't like change. 
  
And that's probably why I feel unsettled, I have a mess to sort out, I have to start classes on Monday at SFCC, I have to go see Mrs. Kim and get a work schedule sorted out, I have to decide if I am going to volunteer at BCGC and what all I have to do w/that and I have to find some social life.  I don't really have one in Bell.  I never really did come to think of it but Aaron really pointed that out during our most recent argument; when he came up here during winter break I didn't introduce him to anyone our age, I took him to meet Anni but that was the extent of our social engagements.  Does this mean I live under a rock? No. But I think it might mean that I really never made any long term friendships in this town.  Maybe that's my fault or maybe its just circumstances (ie I can't walk to a neighbors house, etc) regardless, just something I've been thinking about. 

Other Random Thoughts I Had Today (or recently):
~Packing equals three F's:  Fun, Frustrating and Where the FUCK did I get all this stuff?
~People should get ticketed for taking up 2 parking spaces.
~People should get ticketed for riding on the brakes.
~People should get ticketed for driving too slow.
~Dial up internet sucks, seriously.
~I don't have a puppy anymore, I have a huge, solid, beast-of-a-dog.
~I have made a lot of typos in my old entries, sorry guys.
~I miss riding horses, I think I will start again this summer.
~Philosophy has nothing to do with deep thought, its all bullshit.
~I can write better than N. Sparks, this book is cruddy. [I was reading The Notebook]
~My car is a trooper, it can hold a dorm room and still zoom,zoom (ohhhh, I made a funny rhyme!)
~I HEART IHOP!!! (Jenna don't forget the fund!)

Ok, So I had some way better ones but I have currently forgotten them. I'm going to go do something productive, I hope. Later,
Love to All,
~Jess

This was from the first night home after my first year in college. I came home that summer to take some classes locally, basically because I didn't have any other plans. That was the first and only summer I did that! ha.  Oh, and the little rant about philosophy? I think my grade for my Philosophy of Human Nature course had just posted and I wasn't to thrilled about it. That class was VERY subjective.

So, what do you guys think of 19 year old Jess? haha. Let me know if you enjoy these Flashbacks, if not I won't torment you with them!

Love to all,
~the 19 turned 24 year old, Jess

So this is where I rank in the world, eh?

It's the first day of pre-planning and I thought it only fitting to share this quote from a book I finished just last week.

Regarding fundraising in order to run for political office:

"On the political right, there is the establishment, the money, and big business, and the myriad groups it finances. ON the left, there are the minorities, labor unions, schoolteachers, and the trial lawyers. Only the trail lawyers have money, and it's pocket change compared with big business." ~The Appeal by John Grisham

(I took the liberty of bolding schoolteachers.)

Love to all,

~the "yes I'm a busy schoolteacher, but it's election time, so my eye is on you politicians!" gal, Jess

Kiddie Comfort Food

So, sometimes I like to eat like I'm my shoe size-which is a 6 and 1/2 thank you very much!

Hamburger Steak with peppers, onions and mushrooms, Toy Story Mac n Cheese and Yellow Squash

Hold up! Did she say Toy Story macaroni? Let's look at that a little closer.

Seriously, this was one of the best batches of mac I've made in a while (because I don't measure, even my blue box blues comes out different every time and I LOVE that!) I think the fun shapes made all the difference. This made me miss the days of living with my college roomies, because we would always stock up on the Scooby-Doo mac n cheese. Love my 211 girlies!

And because I like to eat like a 1st grader, I also drink like one:

1% milk and a side salad. I drink milk with nearly all my "home meals" because I love it. Period.

What are your favorite childhood foods?

Love to all,

~the little gal herself, Jess

Happy Hour Heaven

I love a cheap thrill as much as the next gal, but that certainly wasn't what I was expecting when a group of us hit up McCormick and Schmick's for Happy Hour based on the fancy exterior of the building.

Now I had been informed that this was the cheapest happy hour in Otown, so I was anticipating Jack n Cokes and cheese fries.....I mean, looks can be deceiving right? Maybe the exterior was just a facade?


Imagine my shock and pleasure when instead of greasy potatoes this lovely amuse bouche of a seared scallop topped with microgreens arrived before me, as if the chef had read my mind.

So delicious, and truly and a.b. as I was longing for more, even though I cut my "bite" into quarters, trying to make it last longer. I sipped a cold draft Yingling Lager as we waited on our actual menu munchies. (I couldn't stomach the $2 Long Island Iced Teas in the day light)

I enjoyed steamed clams ($4.99) as my actual happy hour fare in addition to lovely roasted ratatouille and pita bread with balsamic reduction ($3.99).

Seriously, that was some of the best pita bread of my life....and that's saying a lot, since pitas are a staple for this girl!

So if you are looking for a upscale, but very affordable happy hour head to your nearest McCormick and Schmick's for something different from the typical "young professional" trendy scene. It's worth the break away from the pack....even if all you'll pick up are the grandfather types!

Love to all,
~the "I'll frequent anyplace that offers a complementary amuse bouche" gal, Jess

Backlot Tour

Good music, movies and books don't just come about, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes down before debuts of a chart-topper or bestseller hits the shelves. I would never, ever claim to be the driving force behind any worthy of acclaim blog chatter, regardless I still have been putting in more behind the scenes work recently, so while I may be posting a little less frequently as of late, I'm hoping that my down and dirty work will lead to a better blog for us all.

Without further ado here is an update on my most recent project

I've been writing this particular blog since May of 2009 and in that time I had applied 102 labels, give or take a few, which didn't make for very useful navigation or exploring....so I've done my best to narrow it down a little:

Food and Drink:

Break Yo Fast = Breakfast items
Midday Munchies = Lunch
Waz Sup(er) = Dinner
Snackage = Duh!
So What if I Slept a Little Late = Brunch
Sinfully Sweet = Desserts
I Heart Beer = Duh again!
I'll Have What She's Having = Dining out/Restaurant Reviews

Heath:

Get It Girl = Workout Recaps/Reflection/Etc.

Series:

Abarnment Series
Stubbies' 100 Beers in a Year Challenge

Other Themes:

 Recent Reads = Book Reviews
Listen Up = Thoughts about Music
Hey Teacher (Wo)Man = Teaching Stuff
Celebrate Good Times-Come On = Holidays
Take Me Away = Travel/Vacation
Special Interest = Thoughtful Things/Everything Else

As I mentioned, this bloggie-poo of mine is a work in progress so I have a few more categorizes in the works and some more narrowing down to do, but I hope this helps all you wonderful readers/causal passerbyer's/or those of you that just got lost to find out more about my exploration of "normal" in this wonderfully crazy world.

Love to all,

~your loving tour guide, Jess

PS. Please don't forget to tell me about your favorite "good" songs to use with my lovely students this year!

Music Sets the Tone

Music is so important in our daily lives. Raise your hand if you go a day without a single tune in your day? Anyone? I thought not. We blast that stereo in the shower, the car, the kitchen, at the gym (seriously how important is music when you are working out? Right?!).  I always have some music on in the background when I'm home and until I started working as a teacher, I had my ipod or the radio on at work, too. I call it my "subconscious soundtrack of life" (yes, I get all emo on occasion-please don't delete me from your Reader!)

But wait, why can't teachers have music? Better yet, why can't the students have music? No longer will that be the case in my classroom-where music was a special treat, for "chilling after an exam" or the like.

Nope, I'm starting each and everyday with a song to play as my students get settled and started on their bellwork.

A good song.

All We Need is Love- The Beatles

One Tribe-BEPs

Respect- Aretha Franklin

One Love- Bob Marley and the Wailers

We are One-The Matches

So, here is where I ask for a favor. I need 180 "good" songs. A good song is anything positive and/or neutral in message. An example of a "neutral" song would be Bicycle by Queen. Modern and popular is good though. I'm really pumped about using Billionaire by Travis McCoy.

Help me out my friends: What songs do you recommend I start my "kids" days off with?

Thanks so much!

Love to all,
~the young, fun, teacher who realizes music is important in the classroom, Jess